


One beer too many

by Pikkulef



Series: Original characters and their original stories, not all well fitted together [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 15:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15318306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikkulef/pseuds/Pikkulef
Summary: Just a scene to develop my characters and their (rdidiculously complicated) relationship. But, also, ACTION !





	One beer too many

**Author's Note:**

> Just a scene to develop my characters and their (rdidiculously complicated) relationship. But, also, ACTION !

      “And what’s this song saying, then?   
“I said I understood it, didn’t say I can immediately translate all the songs that we get to hear in every bar we end up!”   
Desden patted Kalinka on the head and gave her a bit of sausage from the tiny bowl they had been given. He had not been through his first pint yet, while Diane had drunk one and a half. Music was blasting from the pub’s sound system, but most of the patrons were following a sports event on TV at the other end of the room. They were alone near the counter.   
“But you said you knew this one! Also, we have only ever been to one bar and it’s this one. And I’m sure you can.”  
Desden straightened up, more amused than annoyed.   
“Oh, of course I can! … but not just like that and with all that noise and - “He tilted his head backwards at the roar that just came up from the back of the pub. “Who scored ?  
“The… blue ones…?  
“Well, thank you very much, but which town is it?   
“I have no idea. You should know, if you’re that into it!  
“Didn’t know there was a match tonight. Also it’s rugby, yes? Not football, if it’s football we’re leaving this filthy place.  
“Gosh, you snob, yeah it’s rugby, of course it is. Two secs… okay so it’s us against… Toulon?” He grinned, his face lightning up behind the dark glasses that hid a big part of it.    
“Whoah, so not only are we playing tonight, but we scored then! We’re the blue ones!  
“How’d you know that?   
“I know so many things, you wouldn’t believe it. We’re blue. They’re... white ?   
“Oh, please! And they’re red.” She tapped her bitten nails against her glass – nearly empty. The song she wanted to know about was not finished yet. “Come on, what does the song say?” Of course, she didn’t really care about it. She did that for the playful exasperation it prompted in Desden. They probably both knew it, judging from the more or less annoyed, crooked smile on his face. He had a dimple in his right cheek – not on the other side, for some reason. It made his smile even more asymmetrical. How come Diane had not noticed that before?   
“Right now, I don’t know! why do you want me to do that?  
“Cause I ask you to? Nicely?  
“You’re drunk.” He gave a high-pitched chuckle.  
“As if you weren’t. That was the ugliest laugh, by the way.”  
“And I am not singing yet. If you want to hear that you’d need to get me many other drinks. Care to do just that?”  
She suddenly thought about something, and sobered up a little. “Is it okay for you to drink that much? Haven’t you told me you have balance problems?   
“Oh, this is cute. Are you afraid for me?   
“Seems like I’m the only responsible adult, here, so, I ask.   
Desden straightened up and got a little more serious. “It’s okay. I’ve drank only one pint of light stuff, and I’m big. I shall be alright. Besides” he added, and the smile was back “I know you’re strong enough to carry me home.   
“Shut up.”  
  
        Right as she was getting up to head for the bar, a pair of hands abruptly landed on her shoulders, nailing her down to her stool.   
“Hey lady? Why don’t you join us for the next round? Drink to our certain victory?”  
She stiffened. She had almost bit her tongue in surprise. She cast a glance at Desden, who looked lost, frowning. But even if she thought she could handle it, she couldn’t communicate it to him like that. Right now he couldn’t even know half of what was happening. She had to play it nicely. The guy was starting to vaguely massage her shoulders. It sent shivers of disgust down her spine. A bunch of guys near the TV screen had cheered as he talked to her. She’d have thought they would be a group of random older rugby supporters, but they were more probably students –and well dressed, at that. There were others. She’d have to be diplomatic. She turned to the man – roughly her age, or a little younger, maybe? – dressed with taste, him too, with thin metal rimmed glasses, and what he probably thought as a charming smile. Judging by his dapper style, he and his friends could be from one of those expensive business schools, those were in the city centre, not that far. You never saw people like that near the campus – she knew that from all the times she’d been there for a run.   
She tried to smile back at him.   
“No, thanks. I was having a good time with my friend here, and I’d like to go back to that. You don’t need me to cheer for the team, eh? You got your mates for that. Have a good evening. Bye.  
“No need to be rude, girl. Just thought you’d be happy we save you from doing your charity thing here, that all.” From the corner of her eye, she could see Desden lick his lips, and red slowly rise to his cheeks and ears.   
“I was not rude. You are starting to be. Please leave us alone.” Her sudden mean look probably worked, because the man finally let go of her shoulders, and walked away with his hands out, in a “I didn’t do anything wrong” gesture.   
  
        She let out a big, if a little shaky, sigh. Desden spoke in a tiny voice. “I am sorry. We shouldn’t have come here. We should go home.” He was already getting up – and probably felt dizzy doing so, as she saw him suddenly grappling the table. She chose not to say anything about it.  
“Why, did you know there were going to be assholes in this place?   
“No, it’s a nice place, it never happened before, but –   
“Then I say we get another drink and leave when we want the fuck to and not before.   
Desden hesitated. He was still half standing, but loosened his hold on the table.  
“I am not looking forward to more interaction with this type of people. I may sound like a coward, but I am always afraid they could go further.   
“And what?   
“Please.” He shook his head and made a face. “Don’t let me say it out loud.   
“He won’t do anything. Don’t worry.   
“I’ll worry if I want to. Just… please, try to understand.” He was visibly upset. “I don’t mind being called names and such. I don’t care. There’s just nothing to do but let them talk. I just don’t want to get in trouble and I especially don’t want you in trouble either.”   
She didn’t know what to say. He didn’t go on any further and motioned towards his ever faithful backpack. Kalinka immediately got up. Diane noticed just now that the bright red colour of the backpack definitely clashed with the plain, if nice, clothes he wore from work.   
  
        She was going to make a lame joke about it, to try and lighten the atmosphere, when the whole group of guys that had been cheering in front of the TV came back towards the bar and them. The game was over. Despite the points they’d scored earlier, they had lost. She locked her eyes on her beer, avoiding the men’s stare. Desden himself had seated back. She didn’t know how he could have told, but there were probably too many people around at the same time for his taste.   
The man with the glasses stopped by their table again. Too close from her, his back towards Desden.  
“See, girl, we lost. Should have come with us instead of staying here babysitting. We’d have won.”  
She didn’t want to be diplomatic anymore. She wanted this guy to eat his words.   
“Just get lost already. Leave us alone!  
“Oh, yes, or what? Your boyfriend’s gonna kick my ass? Throw his dog at me?  
“Yeah, Damien, eh !” Another one was standing next to Desden; he looked quite drunk – and quite tiny next to him. “So, what happens if I do this?” He waved his hand in front of Desden’s face; in doing so, his sleeve brushed Desden’s shoulder, who jerked away as far as he could while keeping his hold on the table. He was as red as his backpack and was biting his lips furiously. They had to leave. “Look, he moved! Eh, wait, is he mute, too, or what?”  
Diane didn’t give them a look, leaned over the table and pressed Desden’s hand. “You were right. Let’s go.” He just nodded in answer. They both got up, and she led the way, Desden and Kalinka right behind her, feigning to ignore the sneering men around, bumping into them when they wouldn’t move. They managed to get to the counter.   
Desden mumbled. “I’ll pay.” She did not argue.   
  
        “Yeah bring him home, tuck him into bed. How much does he pay you, really? Do you sleep with him, too? Is it part of the contract?”  
Desden felt Diane stop. Like this was one comment too many. They were in the street, now, and he would have thought the men wouldn’t have followed, that they would have stayed inside and carried on with their drinking, forgetting about them as soon as they left. But they apparently weren’t drunk enough for that.   
He tried to talk to Diane. “Come on, let’s just leave. It’s okay. Let’s go now.”  
He was tugging at her sleeve. But she wouldn’t move. The guy was still talking – more or less saying the same things on repeat, nothing really inventive. This type of person was not something he’d encounter often, but he already had. There was nothing else to do than retreat to another place. Most probably home because he was beginning to feel tipsy and that wasn’t good.  
“Diane, let’s go. Please.”  
It had no effect on her. He let go of her arm; he actually was ready to leave without her, that is, if he hadn’t feared for her. She moved away from him, not speaking; he had no idea whatever was going on, or through her mind, at this moment. Frustration and fear were getting on his nerves. Again.  
Until he heard, more or less at the same time, the guy suddenly shut up, and a perfectly audible, painful crunch. And then tables or chairs collapsing.  
Diane shook her hand, trying to relieve the pain of the punch, and walked towards the man she had just broken the nose of – but surprisingly, not the glasses. She looked down at him from all her height – not much, and he was still half lying on one of the fallen tables – and said in a low, growling voice she didn’t even recognize herself :   
“One : I am boxing since I am seven. Also, I grew up with three sisters, it teaches you. Two : you are an arsehole. Three : he is not my boyfriend, but if he was, I’d probably be a lucky girl. He is much more of a man than you’ve probably ever been. You are filth. Go home, arsehole, you’re drunk.”  
  
        “You are all fucking going home. You’ve ruined my terrasse, bloody tossers!” The barman – where had he been all this time? –  put his hand on Desden’s shoulder. “You okay, mate? Need a lift? I been late on this, but I’m not a cunt.”  
Diane was shaken. The guys were all silent, shocked, too. Sobered up, hopefully. She was. She deliberately turned away from them to walk by Desden.   
He was white as a sheet. How had he turned so suddenly from totally red to white was a mystery. He took his glasses off – the first time Diane had ever seen him do so – keeping his eyes closed, he rubbed his face with the back of his hand. He started slowly:  
“No I think I’ll be okay… I have…” He stopped, then bursted out, something between a genuine and a hysterical laughter. “I think I have a bodyguard!”   
“You’re all fucking drunk. Piss off, all of you, or I call the cops.   
“You should call the cops! Look what she did! She broke his fucking nose, man!  
“Yeah, well. Want me to call the cops, I’ll call the cops. Then you’ll have to explain to them why you were harassing a woman and a blind man. Good luck. I was going to throw you out, well, I couldn’t predict she would react like that. Too fast for me. Now fuck off. And I’m keeping an eye on you boys. You ain’t following those two. In fact you’re going to stay there for a while. Now,” He turned towards Desden and Diane, who were already leaving, “you two, piss off.”    
  
        Here they were, walking in the middle of a deserted street – it wasn’t that late, but it was a week day. Desden had finally calmed down, but still had random bouts of giggling. Diane felt torn between the same kind of maniacal laughter and the need to throw up. Not because she was drunk. It took a long time before Desden spoke.   
“This was -   
“Terrible.  
“Epic. I have never had anyone fighting for me before!  
“What? I didn’t fight for you.” She was still angry. She had to calm down. “And you make it sound like it was a noble fight or whatever. I just punched him.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the trembling in her voice, but he probably could. “I just grew sick of him and I had too much to drink. Sorry. This guy, he… He fucking touched me. Twice. The first time he put his hands on my shoulders, and then he ostensibly grabbed my ass. It’s… it’s disgusting. And he kept being fucking rude to you. Like you weren’t even there.  
“I am sorry. Really.” He chuckled again: “And I know. I actually was there.”    
“Do you really find this funny or is it the alcohol, or adrenaline showing?   
“Probably all of this.”   
  
        They walked silently again for a few minutes. Diane envied the ignorant calm of Kalinka, who was just there doing her job, and had apparently already forgotten the tension of a few minutes ago. She could see the top of the footbridge. Arrived there, they would part ways – Desden lived nearby on the other side, and wasn’t really into people walking him home, as she understood. Right now he had his hand on her arm, but he could probably manage. He wasn’t really drunk and knew those streets like the back of his hand. She still felt bad about the idea of letting him go alone, though, after what happened. Or maybe it was her who needed someone to walk her home. And probably stay with her.  
They had reached the footbridge, drenched in a harsh orange light. Diane felt an urge to look over the railing, to have a look at the river at night, to see if the furious rambling she could hear translated into something that resembled what she felt. The river was pitch-black. Not even the slightest, orange-y bit of foam. She sighed.  
“You okay? I mean, seriously.   
“Yeah, allright.   
“Well, you definitely don’t sound okay.   
“I am, though.   
“Mmh-mhh.”  
  
        Desden didn’t look nor sound convinced. He had stopped next to her, and was taking his cane out of his backpack – a sign that he felt at least a little drunk, as he could walk the road back to his home following only his dog, usually. She had seen him do it countless times. She wanted to stay with him. Not to protect him, not to make sure he made it home safely. Because she was not sure of making it home safe herself. Because she felt like going back to her empty flat would make her scream.  Because she felt she needed to be held and told she had not done a terrible stupid thing, and that she wanted the arms holding her to be his.   
“You don’t want company, walking home? You do sound pretty shaken.   
“Desden, you’re the one always claiming you’re not made of glass. Am I the one who is, then?   
“Well, obviously not… Okay, okay, it’s just that I don’t like to leave a friend alone like that.   
“Are we going to accompany each other back home until the end of the night, then?   
“No need to be all witty, eh. Sorry. I’ll go. Just… take care, ok? And don’t think about this too much. It’s nothing. He deserved it. If he gets it taken care of right away, there will be nothing to see in a few weeks.   
“Would you have punched him, if you could?   
“I don’t know. I… don’t think so. Never been a fighter. I’m a coward, really. Always been.  
“Do you… do you think he’s going to file a complaint against me?   
“He doesn’t have your name, right? The only thing he has that could help find you is me.”  
  
        None of them moved, nor talked. It seemed they didn’t know how to leave. She was reluctantly stepping away when he spoke again. Desden had apparently been thinking, because he suddenly said, as if continuing their previous conversation: “And that little speech you gave? It was great. Especially that part about me not being your boyfriend, but -   
“Wait, you heard that?   
“Well, I have good ears, but I’m pretty sure the whole pub heard it, Diane.   
“Shit. It was… anger talking. I hate this type of people. When I’m angry I just ramble, it’s nothing, sorry.  
“Really? So you don’t actually think what you said?” Was it her or did his hand on her arm, he had put it back there somehow, tightened a little?   
“What, about you being a better man? Of course, what, yes I do!”   
“No.” He took a step closer to her. She could feel the warmth in his breath, now. His hand was definitely holding her arm tighter. The crooked smile had returned, but he was not giggling anymore. “About the fact that you’d be lucky if I was your boyfriend.” She didn’t know what to answer. Because she didn’t know what she actually thought about it. Yeah, it was probably true, but…  
He let go of Kalinka’s leash and brought his hand up, apparently hesitating. Then he smiled again, and felt for the side of her face, lightly resting his hand on her cheek. “Can I?”   
“Uh, yeah?” He was going to touch her face. That was what blind people did, right? Like, in film. It felt awkward, them being – admittedly alone – doing that in the middle of the street.  On the other hand, while she had been disgusted by the touch of that man in the pub, she could feel blood pounding in her ears right now…   
But Desden just quickly trailed the line of her chin, stroked her lips with his thumb, bent over and kissed her. A very sweet kiss. A very unexpected one, too.  
He could probably feel she was surprised by her slight recoil – he had a step back, too.   
“That… you didn’t actually say yes for that, right?” Red was back on his cheeks, and he looked confused, head tilted on the side. She had never noticed how much of an open book he was. You could read everything on his face, and she couldn’t even see his eyes. He was obviously as embarrassed as she was. “Miscommunication?  
“Yeah, I… sorry.   
“No, no, I’m the one who’s sorry.” He let go of her arm. “Sorry, I thought… Alright, I’m probably still drunk. I should go.”  
  
        She should have let him go, called it a day and went home too. That was the right thing to do. This was definitely not the time to do anything else. She caught his arm – remembering too late that he hated that, let go of it and just hugged him. The top of her head didn’t even brush his chin.   
Desden took his time to close his arms around her, and did it very slowly, as if she was a small animal anything could frighten into flight. He sighed.   
“If we’re going this road you probably should talk a little more, alright? Or miscommunication will happen.”   
He could feel her answer as much as he heard it, as she kept her face pressed against his chest. “Okay.  
“We still… friends, then?” He felt pained to have to say so, but he’d rather state it and keep her close than have her run away because he was dumb. He’d been definitely dumb to think she was anything else than a friend. It was good. He didn’t have many. “No more of this. Friends. All right?”  
He felt her head move against him. Just to hold her was good enough.   
“All right.”


End file.
